


I Think We're Alone Now

by scribbletea



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Confessions, First Meetings, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, stupid teens doing stupid teen stuff. and I love them for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28431786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribbletea/pseuds/scribbletea
Summary: “Who’s he?”“Hajime-” He started a bit too strained so he cleared his throat and tried again, “My name is Hajime Hinata, you must be Natsumi’s brother. Fuyuhiko, right?”“Yea.” Fuyuhiko said “So you’re Hajime? My sister’s told me a lot about you”“Really?” Hajime inexplicably felt a little embarrassed. “Good things I hope.” He said, shooting Natsumi a playful look.“Mostly,” she said, joking back.“It’s nice to finally meet you,”In an alternate universe where Natsumi lives, Hajime and Fuyuhiko meet through her.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Kuzuryu Natsumi, Hinata Hajime/Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	I Think We're Alone Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [giraffecentaurs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffecentaurs/gifts).



“-And that’s all we’ll be covering on the test”.

The bell rings, signaling the end of another day of classes. The sound of metal chairs  sliding against the tile floor and excited chatter quickly fills the room.

“Alright, class dismissed” Their teacher sighs, “Don’t forget to work on your projects, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Finally-” a voice groaned from Hajime’s right. He turned to look at them. Natsumi stretched out her arms in a dramatic yawn, looking particularly grumpy.

“Let’s go,” She said, readjusting her bag on her shoulder before hopping off the desk she had been perched upon. “Project’s not gonna work on itself”. Hajime followed after her, grabbing his own bag slung on the back of his chair before exiting the classroom as well.

“I can’t believe he’d assign us a project now,  especially when we’re already swamped with work! I can’t wait ‘til winter break” Natsumi groaned, kicking a stray pebble off the sidewalk and sending it skittering into the street for good measure. Hajime hummed non-committedly, sipping on his juice. Sometimes it was just best to let Natsumi vent out the worst of her frustrations first, which was something Hajime had learned throughout the course of their friendship.

The day she and Sato had gotten into that argument, Hajime had followed her up to the roof balcony. Natsumi hadn't exactly been the kindest to him in the past, but he couldn’t ignore the hurt he had seen in her eyes when she fled from the earlier scuffle. When Natsumi opened up to him, Hajime had been empathetic; he understood what it felt like to not have a talent, to feel like you’d do anything just to be special. Talent wasn’t everything though he told her, but he did admire her determination and drive to get into the main course, it was kinda inspiring. They weren’t really so different when he thought about it. They had similar goals, he  realized , so they should stick together. 

He remembered inviting her out for lunch after school that day, and how she had made a big deal about accepting, feigning disinterest.

_ ‘Fine,’ _ she had huffed _ ‘as long as you pay for everything’ _

And they had become the unlikeliest of friends ever since . It wasn’t something he would have ever expected, but as they had gotten closer and Natsumi dropped her brazen attitude around him Hajime found himself genuinely enjoyed her company;  looking back on that day, he found he wouldn’t have changed a thing . Since they had become friends, the hostility between Natsumi and Sato had deescalated slightly, with Hajime usually able to placate her; but there were still times where he had to intervene  before things got too dangerous again . 

“-It’s just so stupid, y’know?” Natsumi  said , bringing him back to the present.

“Yea, definitely,” Hajime said, knowing he probably did actually agree with what she had been complaining about. 

Natsumi slowed a little and stopped. “Well, we’re here”

“This is where you live?” Hajime asked, surprised; looking up at the building they had stopped in front of. It was a normal, unassuming townhouse.

“Well yes and no-,” Natsumi answered. “It’s one of several my parents own, we switch between them depending on the situation or whatever’s most convenient”

That made sense. He didn’t expect Natsumi to bring someone like him back to the clan headquarters, and frankly, he wasn’t exactly itching to visit the base of operations of the largest crime syndicate in Japan either.

“It’s usually just me and my brother here,” she says, pulling out a key from her bag and sticking it in the front door, opening it with a satisfying  _ click _ “since it’s so close to school and all”.

“Your brother?”

Ah, that’s right. Natsumi’s older brother in the main course.

Natsumi pushed the door open just then. It was a modest home; the living area was open, separated only from the kitchen by a half-wall at the back, and on their left was a staircase that presumably led to the second floor. There was a low table in the middle of the main room and someone was seated there.

“I’m hoooome,” Natsumi called out to them.

“Hey, I was just about to head out,” The boy at the table said, looking up from the book he was reading. He glanced at Natsumi first, then at Hajime. For some reason, Hajime felt a bit nervous under the other’s gaze, but he didn’t look away. 

“Who’s he?”

“Hajime-” He started a bit too  strained so he cleared his throat and tried again, “My name is Hajime Hinata, you must be Natsumi’s brother. Fuyuhiko, right?”

“Yea.” Fuyuhiko said “So you’re Hajime? My sister’s told me a lot about you”

“Really?” Hajime inexplicably felt a little embarrassed. “Good things I hope.” He said, shooting Natsumi a  playful look.

“Mostly,” she said,  joking back.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Fuyuhiko says.

He extended his hand out towards Hajime and he took it, shaking it respectfully. Hajime feels something he can’t quite describe dance across his chest as he shakes Fuyuhiko’s hand.

“Alright guys break it up, me and Hajime have a project to work on” Natsumi cuts in and Hajime is embarrassed when he realizes they’ve been holding hands for a little too long. They both pull away at the same time, and Hajime’s hand reflexively reaches back to shyly scratch behind his ear.

“Right, it was nice to meet you too,” Hajime thankfully manages to say without stuttering. He thinks he sees Natsumi roll her eyes out of the corner of his eye before she grabs his arm and all but drags him up the stairs.

“Anyways, we have a project to work on. See you later Fu!” she calls down to Fuyuhiko.

“ See ya .” He  calls back after a moment.

As Natsumi continues to pull at Hajime he  risks a quick glance back at Fuyuhiko, but the blond is already gone. 

  
  


ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

  
  


“Eaugh...”. Hajime yawned. He had woken up earlier than usual this morning, hoping to get a more productive start to his day, and he was suffering all the more because of it. At four in the m orning, he had grabbed himself a piece of toast and churned out a five-page paper for Japanese Lit. It  wasn’t by any means  _ good _ , but he was pretty proud of himself. 

“Hajime!”

Hajime stopped and turned  toward the source of the voice . Natsumi waved excitedly at him  from the other side of the crowd of students walking to Hope's Peak .  Hajime instantly brightened up and  began his awkward shuffle through the crowd towards her.

_ Excuse me-, Sorry…,  _ _ Can I squeeze past you for a sec _ _? _

“Yo,” Fuyuhiko greets him from next to Natsumi when he finally makes it over to them; he raises his hand in salutation and Hajime gives him a small wave back. There’s a girl with  long silver braids h e doesn’t recognize walking next to him, judging by her uniform she’s in the main course as well.  The girl looks at him .

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” she says, “I’m Peko Pekoyama”

“Hajime Hinata,”  he says back , instead of shaking his hand like Fuyuhiko did when they met she nods curtly in acknowledgment.

“ We were just talking about checking out this new cafe that opened up nearby,” Fuyuhiko  says, “I heard it’s got really good  coffee and pastries , do you wanna come with us?”

“ Crap. I totally forgot you’re usually busy on Thursdays right Hajime? You have that  project thing you told me about” Natsumi says, disappointed.

“Actually, I’m not doing it anymore,” he  said, “I decided to quit”. Ever since he had become friends with Natsumi he hadn’t seen a reason to continue with the project he’d signed up for, Natsumi was gonna work hard to find her own talent so Hajime would too, there was no point  in trying to gain it artificially .

“So you’ll be able to come?”  Natsumi asks, aiming for nonchalance,  but is ultimately betrayed by the hopefulness in her tone that manages to slip through . Hajim e smiles and glances at Fuyuhiko, the other Kuzuryu sibling looks at h im expectantly.

“Yea, I’d love to,” he says, feeling flush and averting his eyes just in time to notice they’ve passed under the school gate. “We’ll see you guys later,” Fuyuhiko says as they step  onto campus . He and Peko wave goodbye as they head over to the main building and Hajime and Natsumi wave back, heading in the other direction to the Reserve Course building.

“ So, how did you do on that paper due for Lit? ” Hajime asks.

“We had paper?”

Hajime laughs as Natsumi begs him to give her his paper as if their teacher wouldn’t notice.  Defeated, she walks into the classroom, and Hajime follows after her still chuckling, he’s looking forward to how she’ll somehow pin the blame on their teacher for not reminding her that it was due when telling Fuyuhiko and Peko about it over coffee later.

  
  


ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

  
  


He didn’t realize it at first, but Hajime had started waking up earlier. He’d bump into Natsumi, Fuyuhiko, and Peko nearly every morning and after a while, they began regularly walking to school together every morning. The four had grown close,  hanging out increasingly often outside of school .  They’d go bowling and karaokeing together, or just wander around the city .  Things normal teenagers did with their friends, he assumed . Hajime had never had close friends like this before, so every outing with Natsumi, Fuyuhiko, and Peko was special.

They usually met as a group, but there were some times where it was just two or three of them. One of these times he had gone to see a movie with Fuyuhiko  and it had rained , the December air not yet cold enough for snow. They decided to take shelter under one of the overhangs outside the mall’s entrance.

“You’re cold”

Hajime had said when he noticed Fuyuhiko was shivering slightly.

“No, I’m not,” Fuyuhiko said somewhat defensively as if Hajime insinuating he was cold was a grave offense. “Have my jacket,” Hajime offered, stripping off his outer layer but Fuyuhiko stopped him.

“You’re gonna get cold too dumbass”

“I’m okay, I have a lot of layers on. Here” and Hajime had draped his overcoat over Fuyuhiko without another word. It was a strange sight for sure, his clothes were definitely too big for Fuyuhiko, but they looked nice on him, it made his chest feel funny.

“Thanks,” Fuyuhiko said, avoiding eye contact,  looking out at the rain . It was coming down in thick sheets now and didn’t look like it wasn’t gonna let up anytime soon. “Did you enjoy the movie?” Hajime asked. They had watched some new yakuza film from a series Fuyuhiko was a fan of. Hajime had never seen it before, so when Fuyuhiko had leaned over their shared armrest every so often to explain what was going on Hajime was grateful,  albeit a little flustered. He’d also enjoyed Fuyuhiko’s earnest commentary on the inaccuracies.

‘ _ He’d never be able to fire that many bullets without reloading, the cylinder is too small!’ _ . 

“Yea, I liked it. I’m surprised Natsumi and Peko didn’t want to come with, we usually watch these movies together”

Hajime suddenly felt bad that he wasn’t able to  understand the movie better and provide more interesting commentary himself.

“ Sorry, you should probably rewatch it with them- ” Hajime is about to say when Fuyuhiko continued “But I had a lot of fun watching it with you. We don’t hang out a lot together, just the two of us I mean, but I’d like to more often”.

Hajime’s words got caught in his throat.

“If you’d like to, that is” Fuyuhiko added a little timidly after Hajime didn’t respond for a moment; his face felt flush.

“I would,”  he replied when he found his voice again , a smile spreading across his face. Fuyuhiko smiled too, seeming to visibly relax.

“Hey, gimme your phone”

Hajime didn’t even question why before pulling his phone from his pocket. Fuyuhiko began to tap away at the keyboard and Hajime watched, amused. The blond suddenly stopped and grinned as the phone’s flash went off. “Here you go,” Fuyuhiko said, handing it back.

_ Fuyuhiko _ his new phone contact read, with a dragon emoji at the end. The photo Fuyuhiko had taken was a little blurry, but that made it all the more endearing.

When he arrived home after the rain had finally stopped he noticed Fuyuhiko had added him to a group chat.  _ Hajime!!  _ One of the unknown numbers had typed, who he correctly assumed to be Natsumi. The four of them chatted  regularly , complaining about classes, or organizing their next outing. So it wasn’t a surprise when Hajime’s phone lights up with a notification from Natsumi on Saturday afternoon.

_ Come to the mall with me, we’re going dress shopping for Peko _ , it reads. Hajime was about to type out a response when another message comes in

**Natsumi:**

Fuyuhiko is coming with us :)

**Hajime:**

I was gonna say yes anyways

What’s that smiley face supposed to mean?

**Natsumi:**

:)

Is all she sends back in response.

Hajime heaves himself off his bed and grabs a jacket, shooting his parents a quick goodbye before heading out. 

“There you are,” Natsumi said when Hajime finally arrived at the mall around 20 minutes later “What took you so long?”

“I sprinted here-” Hajime complained, huffing a little to catch his breath.

“I didn’t ask for your life story” Natsumi cut him off. She already had several shopping bags  swinging at her sides which she seemed to carry with no problem; Fuyuhiko, behind her, on the other hand, seemed to not be faring as well. Peko looked like she wanted to take some of the bags and alleviate his pain but when she went to grab one he’d pull away, refusing to let her carry any of them.

“C’mon, we’re heading to YUGO, next” Natsumi ordered, not waiting for the rest of them as she charged to the next store. Peko nervously followed after her after Natsumi disappeared into the crowd.

“We’ve been here for hours,” Fuyuhiko groaned, appearing at his right. It looked as much, Fuyuhiko seemed tuckered out. “Maybe I could help by carrying some of your bags?” Hajime suggested, gesturing down at the five bags Fuyuhiko had gripped in one just fist. “Thanks,” Fuyuhiko said, loosening his grip so Hajime could take two of them. As Fuyuhiko handed them off his fingers inadvertently brushed against Hajimes,  making his heart do a small somersault in his stomach .

“I didn’t want to make Peko carry any, we’re supposed to be treating her today after all”

“Of course,” Hajime said back “I’ll do my best to help make it a good day too”. Fuyuhiko gave him a small thankful smile when he said that. “Let’s catch up to Natsumi, something tells me she’s probably heckling some poor overworked store employee who doesn’t deserve it”.

“How about this one?” Natsumi said, pulling a  red sundress off the rack; holding it up in front of Peko and squinting, imagining what it might look like on her. Peko seemed to hesitate slightly before answering, “It looks very nice Natsumi” she says. “You don’t have to lie Peko, you can tell her it’s ugly” Fuyuhiko  comments from his place leaning against the wall. Natsumi quickly turns on him, eyes filled with fury. “Well excuse me for trying to help Peko find something nice.  If you’re such an expert why don’t you pick something for her to try? ” 

“Hell no,” Fuyuhiko shot back, “all the dresses in this store are  hideous , your fashion taste is horrible”. Hajime thought he could see literal cartoonish steam  emanating off Natsumi’s head.

“If you think your fashion taste is better than mine why don’t we have a  dress-off then?”

“A what now?”

“ A dress-off ,” she smirked, folding her arms, “We’ll both pick out dresses, and afterward we’ll judge each other to see who really has the better taste in fashion”

“No way,” Fuyuhiko lightly scoffed “I don’t need to prove anything to you”.

Natsumi got a dangerous glint in her eye just then, one Hajime was all too familiar with.

“Oh ho ho ho!” she laughed antagonistically, “Is someone backing down? Guess you’re just not up to the challenge, huh”

“Now, now-” Hajime was about to say, waving his hands placatingly, trying to intervene until Fuyuhiko’s eyes took on the same dangerous glint.

“ I accept your challenge ”

Huh

“ I’ll pick clothes for me and Hajime and you pick something out for you and Peko ,” Natsumi said confidently now, knowing she had successfully goaded Fuyuhiko into accepting her challenge. 

“Uh, do we get a say in this?” Hajime said, glancing at Peko who had an equally  nervous look.

“No!” both Kuzuryu siblings shouted at the same time, taking their  unwilling partners by the arm.

“Come on Hajime,” Natsumi said as she pulled him away to find a dressing room. “We’re gonna win this”.

“Okay, they didn’t have much of a selection but here’s what I found,” Natsumi said, pulling open the door to the dressing room. She dropped several dresses onto the hook on the wall and Hajime looked at them. “I think this one will look nice on you,” Natsumi said, picking up a simple yellow A-line dress with short translucent sleeves, Hajime turned around as she held it in front of him in the mirror. It did actually look really good on him.

“You’re pretty good at this,” he said, turning to Natsumi. Her confident smile faltered at the compliment, melting into a sheepish one. “Of course I am” she snapped back, reverting back to her normal  snappiness . “Now hurry and try it on,” she said, shooting him a smile, stepping out so he could change. “I can’t wait to  rub it in Fuyuhiko’s face when he sees how good we look”.

Hajime and Natsumi had set off to find Fuyuhiko and Peko after Natsumi finished changing .  Her off-the-shoulder maxi dress spotted with tiny buttercups swishing as she  stormed through the store looking for them; Natsumi had paid a lot of attention to detail, and their dresses complemented each other nicely. On the other side of the store, Natsumi  yells for Fuyuhiko to stop being a coward and to get out of the changing rooms.

“Would you quit yelling?” what is  unmistakably Fuyuhiko’s voice shouts out from one of the stalls . “We’re coming out”.

Peko steps out first,  her black wrap dress is a nice mix of comfortable and casual, while still having a professional air to it .

“You look amazing!” Natsumi exclaims and Hajime agrees. Peko flushes, embarrassed by the praise. “Thank you,” She says with a small smile. The changing room door opens again from behind her and Fuyuhiko steps out in a black cami dress with a gold trim. Despite its simplicity  he’s able to make it seem sophisticated, it looks  amazing on him .

“Well?” Fuyuhiko says after a while.  Hajime realizes he’s been staring and his face gets warm .

“You..” he starts and Fuyuhiko quirks a brow. Hajime  feels his brain short circuit . “You look really good”. Immediately after the words left his mouth he wanted to crawl into the nearest hole and never come out.

“Wow bro, you look nice. I’m surprised,” Natsumi says.

“ Can it ,”  Fuyuhiko retorts with no real malice , “You look nice too though,” he admits, appraising Natsumi’s dress “and so do you Hajime”. Hajime is barely able to stutter out a thank you.

“So, what now?” Peko asks after a moment.

“I guess we decide who won,” Hajime answers. Distracted by how nice Peko and Fuyuhiko’s dresses were, he had forgotten they were competing.

“Well of course I’m biased, but  I say we won ” Fuyuhiko started “ but you guys did a good job too ”

“ I agree ,” Peko said next “Though it’s hard to judge something subjective like this”

“So that’s two for Peko and Fuyuhiko” Natsumi  said , “Hajime?”

“ As much as I love what you picked out for me, I’m gonna have to with Peko and Fuyuhiko too, sorry Natsumi ”

‘Traitor’ She accuses him sarcastically through a look alone, making him chuckle. “Well..” Natsumi deliberated, tapping her finger thoughtfully against her chin “Of course Hajime and I look great. But I do have to hand it to you Fuyuhiko, the dress you picked out for Peko is  perfect ” admitted with a sigh. “ Does that mean you’re conceding Natsumi? ” Fuyuhiko pressed with a  knowing grin . Natsumi refused to meet his eyes and crossed his arms “Don’t push it, I’m only letting you win because I like Peko more than I like proving you wrong”. “Wow, that’s big of you Natsumi” Fuyuhiko  teased and Natsumi instantly began fuming again. As the two began squabbling once again Hajime and Peko shared an  exasperated fond look, just before they both scrambled to intervene as the altercation between Fuyuhiko and Natsumi became more  aggressive.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

  
  


“Hello?” Hajime called out, entering the Kuzuryu household. The lights were off and it was dark, Natsumi and Fuyuhiko had texted him earlier that day, invited him over but no one was here. Was he too early?

“Surprise!” someone yells out and the lights quickly flick on. Hajime is instantly covered in confetti. 

“What’s going on?” Hajime says, laughing and a bit in  shock ; he picks some confetti out of his hair, looking at the three who have emerged from their hiding spots holding party poppers. “We’re celebrating your birthday, dummy,” Natsumi said with a touch of fondness.

‘Oh’, Hajime thought.

Because his birthday coincided with New Years people usually forgot it,  or it got overshadowed by invitations to celebrate the New Year .  Seeing the smiles on all three of his friend’s faces filled him with a warm feeling, they had remembered . “C’mon, sit down,” Natsumi said, motioning to the low table. Fuyuhiko and Peko had already seated themselves so Hajime sat as well. There was a small wooden box on the table.

“Is this- are we doing a Brotherhood Cup?” Hajime asks. “Yep!” Natsumi said, pulling out the ceramic saucer cups. “I’ll be the moderator” Natsumi announces matter-of-factly, “and I’ll be the moderator’s moderator,” Peko says next to her, pulling out a tall glass of clear liquid

“Is that?-”

“Relax, it’s water,” Fuyuhiko says.

Natsumi pours out a small amount for all four of them. Fuyuhiko drinks first, then Natsumi and then Peko.  When it’s his turn Hajime puts the cold ceramic to his lips and drinks it .

“Now smash it”

“-Huh?”

“You gotta break it Hajime, for good luck,” Fuyuhiko explained. Hajime is confused but throws it against the ground and it shatters to a chorus of cheers. Natsumi, Peko and Fuyuhiko do the same, each saving a fragment  as a memento of the night .

“Congrats Hajime, you’re an honorary member of the Kuzuryu Clan now,” Fuyuhiko said with a sly smile. Of all the ways he could’ve predicted spending his birthday, being ceremonially inducted into the yakuza was definitely not one of them; but when thought about it,  he oddly felt like he wouldn’t have preferred anything else .

The party begins. Natsumi spreads several  packets of kusamochi across the table and hands one to Hajime . “We tried to make you a cake but unfortunately we overestimated the baking time and it caught fire. We hope these will  suffice in its place ” Peko apologizes, ripping open one of the plastic packages. “Don’t worry about it” Hajime says;  honestly , he's touched that they even tried in the first place, and that they remembered his favorite snack. Natsumi sets down a jug of orange juice next which evokes a groan out of Hajime and snickers out of the other three. It seemed they would never let him live down the day they had been walking home together and Fuyuhiko had told a joke that made Hajime choke on his orange juice and spit it all over the sidewalk. Exasperatedly, he accepted the glass of it Natsumi poured for him, only to yell at her later when she tried to make him laugh in the middle of his first sip.

“I’m tired” Natsumi dramatically yawns at around 11:30, making a show of it. “You’re not gonna stay up ‘til midnight?” Hajime asked, Natsumi shook her head.

“ I’m going to head to bed as well ” Peko announced, “Oh, Goodnight to you too then Peko,” Hajime says as they both head upstairs. “Night!” Natsumi calls down.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” Fuyuhiko says  after their footsteps fade .

“Y-Yea, seems like it”, his voice comes out embarrassingly shaky.

Fuyuhiko smiles at him but his attention seems to be caught by something, and he makes a face. Hajime turns to see what he’s looking at. He looked back in the direction of the staircase, but it was empty.

“I appreciate you for being there for my sister,” Fuyuhiko says after a lull in their conversation around an hour later. “She told me about what you said to her, that day on the roof. Thanks for being her friend, and thanks for being mine too.” Fuyuhiko scratched the back of his ear sheepishly and Hajime smiled fondly.

“I’m glad I’m your friend too. If this whole thing hadn’t happened, we probably would’ve never met”

“What do you mean?”

“If it weren’t for Natsumi,  I probably never would’ve had the opportunity to meet you. I mean, someone from the Main Course and a nobody from the Reserve Course? It’d be next to impossible ”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Fuyuhiko says. “I feel like we would’ve met eventually; maybe not now, but definitely somewhere down the line.  I feel like I was destined to meet you in a way ” he continued.

Hajime flushes and when Fuyuhiko seems to realize what he said he blushes too. “F-Forget it,” he stutters “I’m tired, I don’t know what I’m saying”

“No, I definitely do feel a close connection to you too”. Hajime says, giving Fuyuhiko an earnest look,  hoping to communicate that he meant it “I don’t know quite how to describe it either”.  Fuyuhiko’s eyes widened slightly . They sit together in a slightly tense silence that neither of them seemed to want to address. It’s quickly interrupted by the grandfather clock in the corner of the room when it starts chiming loudly.

“It’s midnight,” Fuyuhiko  comments , “Happy Birthday Hajime,” he says with a soft smile and Hajime's heart flips in his chest.

“Thanks,” he says quietly, a soft smile of his own spreading across his face.

“Do you have a wish?” Fuyuhiko asks; he looks at Hajime with an emotion the other can’t quite discern.

“Not really. Getting to spend New Years with you guys and  celebrate some of its traditions was  more than I could ever ask for ”

“I’m glad,”  Fuyuhiko smiles .  The silence resumes .

“You know, there’s one tradition we haven’t done yet-” Fuyuhiko says suddenly.

“Which one?” 

Fuyuhiko avoids eye contact, his face becoming unmistakably red. 

“ Kissing someone at midnight ”

Hajime’s face freezes in  surprise, mouth hanging open uselessly . He looks at Fuyuhiko to see if he’s joking and feels his heart stutter when the other looks completely serious.

“ Is- Is that so? I totally forgot about that one” Hajime choked out, taken aback by Fuyuhiko’s sudden  boldness .  What was going on? Was Fuyuhiko going to ask him if- .

“Can I kiss you?” Fuyuhiko asks, his face a deep shade of red and his gaze fixated on the wall. Hajime gulps.

“Yes”

Fuyuhiko’s eyes move from the wall to meet his. Hajime felt a deep blush creep over his cheeks as Fuyuhiko reached out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind Hajime’s ear and leaned in. Hajime doesn’t inhale, fearing that if he does even something as fragile as his breath might shatter the moment. When Fuyuhiko’s lips finally press against his, they're soft, so much so that his chest aches a little. There’s a sense of longing in his touch, and the tenderness of it is enough to make him melt.

“I like you” Hajime confesses when they pull apart as if it hadn’t been obvious until now, in every glance, in every touch they’d shared since they met.

Fuyuhiko chuckles lightly as if acknowledging this,  but instead of saying so out loud, he replies “I like you too Hajime,”.

They both laughed a little now, their noses brushing together before they kissed again,  the air of their confirmed mutual attraction hanging pleasantly over them .

Hajime didn’t mind so much that his birthday was on New Years at that moment ,  and truthfully, even before the party he had already received the best gift . He had friends now, a family; and a future he was looking forward to  spending with them .

**Author's Note:**

> Me doing research for this fic, ‘what are normal, fun things that teenagers do?’.  
> This was for the [Kuzuhina Secret Santa exchange](https://kuzuhinasecretexchange.tumblr.com/) on tumblr and I got [hyroid](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/hyroid) as my giftee! I honestly had so much fun writing this (even if I did get a little carried away with the length). Check out [hydroid’s amazing art](https://hyroid.tumblr.com/post/624296839272906752/did-a-redraw-of-some-danganronpa-fanart-i-made) which I used as insp for the dress shopping scene! (and [serpenteau’s as well](https://www.instagram.com/p/CCm3hv4A5_Z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) bc their kuzuhina art lives in my mind rent free). I hope you like this as much as I had fun making it hyroid, and I hope everyone has a happy holiday/new year! :D


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